Gardeners' Notes:

I'm enthusiastic about some other cultivars of this species, but I gave away my 'Edo-shibori'. The flowers are much smaller than the species. The bicolor flowers (fuchsia keel, white wings) read as a dirty white from a distance, at least to my eye. But the friend I gave it to is happy with it.

The species is a beautiful, tough plant with no pests or diseases here, it puts on a spectacular show when in flower from late August into early October. Especially beautiful weeping down from the top of a retaining wall.

A fast grower, it reaches mature size in two seasons. It is very late to show signs of life in the spring, often not till June here, but then it makes up for lost time. It's best cut back close to the ground in early spring like a butterfly bush. Usuall... read morey has some dieback but doesn't generally die back to the ground here in USDA Zone 6.

Established plants are very drought-tolerant, and they also tolerate partial shade. Mature size here in Massachusetts is no more than 6' x 6'

This plant is invasive in the US southeast, spreading both by seed and by self-layering.

Lespedeza thunbergii is recognized by the USDA-NRCS Plant Material Program as a plant that may become weedy or invasive in some regions or habitats and may displace desirable vegetation if not properly managed ( http:// plants.usda.gov/factsheet/doc/fs_leth4.doc ). It is listed as a nonnative invasive plant for forests in the Southeastern United States and has even become widespread enough to require control measures. The Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council (EPPC) lists it as a category 3 problem in Georgia (www.gaeppc.org). The EPPC of Kentucky also lists it as an invasive plant (www.invasive.org).